For lovers of Nick Murphy, new Bon Iver and James Blake, you need to know new production talent CNTR. Deriving inspiration from the winter-clad landscape of his home country Sweden and his new urban environment in London, CNTR portrays the cold, the bleak, the desolate through his powerful mix of electronic beats, piano compositions and impassioned vocals. In new single ‘Fire’, emotion permeates through every beat loop, sonic warp, fractured piano chord and pleading lyric. “Burn me like fire, burn it all away, let me start over, let me come home again,” is one such line sung with searing desperation through a pouring rain-like curtain of overtly digital sounds. It’s an intricately detailed piece of songwriting-meets-production, one that hasn’t had to purge genuine feeling in order to achieve electronic wonder. For an even more piano-based take on this Scandinavian musician's style, be sure to check out debut ‘Falling’ too. - HT